[junctionist]

The revitalization returned the main part of the square to its original form by relocating the Peace Garden. The idea was to restore and enhance the square. Unfortunately, we ended up restoring some of the original design's flaws.

Those flaws include a sense of barrenness and sterility in the large expanse of concrete slab pavers in front of City Hall, as well as the constrictive feel of the elevated walkways, which still get closed for long periods of time and are therefore impractical and largely useless. The sense of enclosure they create feels artificial and unnecessary.

I think we've never come to terms with the fact that while City Hall was a masterpiece of its time as a building, the square's landscape design wasn't very good. Architects often struggle to design great outdoor public spaces. Viljo Revell designed both the building and the square.

At the same time, we're also handcuffed in a sense by the parking garage. If you plant trees on top of it, they'll have to be cut down once in a while to rehabilitate the garage. There are some definite limitations on landscape design at NPS. I would suggest that the city build a great public square elsewhere, such as a European-style market square on Front Street between Jarvis and Church Streets.

 

[DSCToronto]

BA143.5 - Award of Doc4823171082 to South Central Inc. for Contracting Services for the Rehabilitation of the Ceremonial Ramp and Ancillary Structures at Nathan Phillips Square for Corporate Real Estate Management​

Consideration Type: ACTION
Ward: 10 - Spadina - Fort York

Origin​

(July 24, 2025) Report from the Chief Procurement Officer

Recommendations​

The Chief Procurement Officer recommends that the Bid Award Panel grant authority to award the following contract:

Solicitation Number:
Negotiated Request for Proposal Doc4823171082

Description:
For Contracting Services for the Rehabilitation of the Ceremonial Ramp and Ancillary Structures (Hagerman, East and West Stairs) at Nathan Phillips Square at Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West for Corporate Real Estate Management.

Recommended Supplier:
South Central Inc.

Contract Award Value:
$6,770,085 net of all applicable taxes and charges (including allowances and contingencies)
$7,650,196 including HST and all applicable charges
$6,889,239 net of HST recoveries

Contract is expected to start on August 5, 2025 and end on June 30, 2027.

 

[jje1000]

The revitalization returned the main part of the square to its original form by relocating the Peace Garden. The idea was to restore and enhance the square. Unfortunately, we ended up restoring some of the original design's flaws.

Those flaws include a sense of barrenness and sterility in the large expanse of concrete slab pavers in front of City Hall, as well as the constrictive feel of the elevated walkways, which still get closed for long periods of time and are therefore impractical and largely useless. The sense of enclosure they create feels artificial and unnecessary.

I think we've never come to terms with the fact that while City Hall was a masterpiece of its time as a building, the square's landscape design wasn't very good. Architects often struggle to design great outdoor public spaces. Viljo Revell designed both the building and the square.

At the same time, we're also handcuffed in a sense by the parking garage. If you plant trees on top of it, they'll have to be cut down once in a while to rehabilitate the garage. There are some definite limitations on landscape design at NPS. I would suggest that the city build a great public square elsewhere, such as a European-style market square on Front Street between Jarvis and Church Streets.

Dare I say that the original 1952 Marani and Morris proposal, while having a worse city hall design, had a better overall urban design?

Imagine if the two were combined?

 

[MisterF]

The revitalization returned the main part of the square to its original form by relocating the Peace Garden. The idea was to restore and enhance the square. Unfortunately, we ended up restoring some of the original design's flaws.

Those flaws include a sense of barrenness and sterility in the large expanse of concrete slab pavers in front of City Hall, as well as the constrictive feel of the elevated walkways, which still get closed for long periods of time and are therefore impractical and largely useless. The sense of enclosure they create feels artificial and unnecessary.

I think we've never come to terms with the fact that while City Hall was a masterpiece of its time as a building, the square's landscape design wasn't very good. Architects often struggle to design great outdoor public spaces. Viljo Revell designed both the building and the square.

At the same time, we're also handcuffed in a sense by the parking garage. If you plant trees on top of it, they'll have to be cut down once in a while to rehabilitate the garage. There are some definite limitations on landscape design at NPS. I would suggest that the city build a great public square elsewhere, such as a European-style market square on Front Street between Jarvis and Church Streets.

I agree that the design of the square is fundamentally flawed. And so are the calls to return it to its origins and leave it alone. The original design isn't sacred, it can be improved.

My impression of the walkways is that they were designed as the first part of a car-centric vision of downtown Toronto having vehicles and pedestrians on different levels. The street level was to be handed over to cars while pedestrians would get around on walkways above. The Sheraton didn't need to have an old fashioned engaging streetscape because there wouldn't be any pedestrians there. The square needed to be buffered from the surrounding streets because those streets were supposed to be for cars only. I don't know if this approach was ever officially city policy but it was the thinking of the time. This was of course a vision that thankfully didn't last.

The flaws of the square's design make more sense when you look at it from that perspective. The largely unused walkways creating an unnecessary sense of enclosure that would otherwise be provided by surrounding streets and buildings. The way you're forced into the square and away from Bay Street. The way the area along Queen appears to be an afterthought. And although misplaced deference to the original design is part of why the previous "revitalization" of the square was so underwhelming, I don't think the square is doomed to forever be a relic of 1950s modernist thinking. The space could be improved dramatically if the flawed elements around its edges were rethought.

 

[Natika33]

The area under the walkways came in very handy yesterday during the rain. Tonnes of people there for the Taste of Vietnam festival were able to stay & keep enjoying it rather than having to leave. Even on good weather days, the walkways are handy for shade.

I don't mind the closed in feel nor the separation from the traffic and the messy food trucks they provide. I also like having the higher vantage point for photos and people watching. I feel they make the square more pleasant, not less.

 

[A Torontonian Now]

Yesterday:

 

[70Challenger]

The raised perimeter promenade should be given a High Line type treatment. A lush raised garden with the greenery flowing over the concrete walls. Would be an amazing spot I think.

 

[nightstreak]

Work has started on the ramp. What work? I can't find anything but South Central Inc. is the contractor that installed pavers in the plaza in front of Union Station.

This ramp has long ceased being used for cars and can't because the roof it leads to has been redone as a garden.

The centre of Nathan Phillips Square lacks permanence. People either walk through it or walk to the middle and head back. Replace the concrete walls of the ramp with glass and install amphitheatre seating and stairs to encourage people to walk up to the roof garden or sit on the steps and people watch.

Something like this:

The same for the walkways. Put seating up there and glass the railings so people can sit up there.

 

[nightstreak]

Found this: https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/gg/bgrd/backgroundfile-249137.pdf

Ceremonial Ramp, Staircases, and Walkways

The ceremonial ramp, elevated walkways and its various staircases and bridge

connections surrounding NPS were identified as requiring significant rehabilitation to

rectify deterioration due to regular wear and tear. Repairs to address immediate safety

concerns have been completed on the ceremonial ramp and public access to the ramp

resumed on August 30, 2024. Extensive long-term capital repairs of the ceremonial

ramp are scheduled to commence in the fourth quarter of 2024 and expected to be

completed by the third quarter of 2025.

Repairs. Ugh.

Nothing more demonstrative of the lack of interest in great public spaces by our city bureaucrats than what's right outside their offices.

We need a Mayor who leads on public space.

 

[70Challenger]

Replace the concrete walls of the ramp

glass the railings

Are you kidding? Like this city doesn't have enough cheap glass handrails everywhere. I'm so glad this building is heritage designated so it's safe from such things.

 

[nightstreak]

Are you kidding? Like this city doesn't have enough cheap glass handrails everywhere.

I'm so glad this building is heritage designated so it's safe from such things.

The walkways aren’t heritage designated. In fact, the City Council approved plan is to open up the walkways including replacing some of its dilapidated concrete walls with glass like is all over the newer parts of the square.

 

[70Challenger]

The concrete is integral to the historical Modernist architectural intent and should be preserved as such. They are crucial to the podium’s silhouette, especially on the ramp. Those newer extensions with their glass rails are distinct from the original fabric, and the distinction shouldn’t be muddled.

 

[AnnetteMeetsJane]

The concrete is integral to the historical Modernist architectural intent and should be preserved as such. They are crucial to the podium’s silhouette, especially on the ramp. Those newer extensions with their glass rails are distinct from the original fabric, and the distinction shouldn’t be muddled.

The elevated concrete walkways with their concrete walls may be integral to the architect's intent, but they don't function well. The ones close to the building don't invite use by pedestrians because they look like car ramps and are intimidating. The ones around the outside of NP Square cut it off from the city, instead of inviting entry and participation. Landscape architects do make mistakes and have misses. If there can be a conversation about maintaining the Gardiner as an elevated concrete structure around the lakeshore, don't you think that the same discussion could apply to the elevated walkways around NP square.
The whole landscape around the new city hall is 60 years old and the city's needs and self-image have changed since the elevated walkways around NP Square were conceived.

NP square isn't widely loved by the general public, which is a shame and the walkways just don't help (are actually a hinderance). The only time I saw it genuinely used as a truly popular civic space was in the days just after Jack Layton's death, that was the gathering spot only because he had served as a city councillor for so long. Even the New Year's Eve celebrations have moved away to the waterfront. The area central to the city's civil discourse should be a popular civic space, not Modernist intent in aspic.

My 2c worth (and ducks)

 

[nightstreak]

The elevated concrete walkways with their concrete walls may be integral to the architect's intent, but they don't function well. The ones close to the building don't invite use by pedestrians because they look like car ramps and are intimidating. The ones around the outside of NP Square cut it off from the city, instead of inviting entry and participation. Landscape architects do make mistakes and have misses. If there can be a conversation about maintaining the Gardiner as an elevated concrete structure around the lakeshore, don't you think that the same discussion could apply to the elevated walkways around NP square.
The whole landscape around the new city hall is 60 years old and the city's needs and self-image have changed since the elevated walkways around NP Square were conceived.

NP square isn't widely loved by the general public, which is a shame and the walkways just don't help (are actually a hinderance). The only time I saw it genuinely used as a truly popular civic space was in the days just after Jack Layton's death, that was the gathering spot only because he had served as a city councillor for so long. Even the New Year's Eve celebrations have moved away to the waterfront. The area central to the city's civil discourse should be a popular civic space, not Modernist intent in aspic.

My 2c worth (and ducks)

The walkways themselves are fine, but their materials and configuration do not promote use. There's zero seating up there which discourages permanence. People who do end up going up there don't stay. The opaque concrete walls prevent visibility, which both discourages attraction of others and the sense of safety for those up there. Fix both of these points and the walkways would be a successful part of the square.

Studies of successful squares around the world found commonalities: sunlight, seating (preferably movable), and multi levels that enable people watching. Nathan Philips Square has the potential for all of these but they're not executed well.

1. Seating. Someone wanders up to the walkways and sits down. People down in the square see this person: look, you can go up there. More people sit, more people go up.

2. Transparent walls to allow visibility for the social effect mention in the previous point. There's a sense of safety because you can be seen sitting down and the pleasant activity of people watching into the square.

As for the walkways's role in activity in the square, I don't believe they prevent people from coming into the square, the hard landscaping at ground level does.

1. Bay Street is a highway on Nathan Phillips Square's eastern edge. There are fences meant to prevent access. They work as intended—it's the intention that's wrong.

2. Queen Street is blocked by a long mud filled "lawn" that I have never in my life seen serving as a successful lawn. Plant Architect's winning design comes to terms with this and aims to transform the Queen Street edge into a granite forecourt dotted with trees. This would have increased the porosity of the busiest edge, inviting people into the square. City Councillors at the time thought they knew better and decided to keep the muddy lawn.

Lastly, the stage and Peace Garden amphitheatre were meant to function as grand staircases onto the walkways. But they're regularly blocked off with gates left over from previous events and never taken down. Also note how seating was to be added near the fountains. The square concrete blocks that were to serve as seating were relegated to the sides and never used and the fountains haven't been maintained, stopped working years ago.

We can design the perfect square all we want, but if those at the frontlines managing the square don't follow the intention of the architects and if they don't maintain the square, then their functionality breaks down.

 

[AnnetteMeetsJane]

I appreciate the thoughtful response, and its from a place of more knowledge than I possess, but I respectfully disagree. It's interesting that you chose a viewpoint that minimises the visual and physical barrier that the elevated walkways pose though. I respect that it is currently coherently Modernist. The problem is that entire square just gives of the vibes of a large Green P parking lot accessed by ramps, but which is devoid even of cars.

I don't have the opportunity to travel as many do here but I did get to spend time in Trafalgar Square in London this summer. I was struck by what a lively, human space that has evolved into. When I was a kid it was basically the centre of a large roundabout, surrounded by traffic and full of pigeons and not much else. Closing one side to traffic, and linking it to the National Gallery helped. It is comparable in many ways to the relationship between out City hall and NP square. The difference is that it is a space designed for people - steps and landing spaces.

There are landmarks, and place-markers and the fountains provide movement and noise. The paving surface creates shapes and textures. The fourth column promotes a dialogue with the population of the city about what is important and interesting to them in a changing world.

The square connects to the buildings around it through similarities in materials and shapes - the fountain speaks to the spire of St. Martin's-in-the-Field and Nelson's Column. (Even the water feature in NP Square manages to be flat and gray.) When you are in Trafalgar Square, you get the sense of walking though a space that shifting and part of the city, not a disconnected dead zone. It also feels safer enter and to walk through because it is well lit and has clear sight lines.

Despite the "stuff" in the space, Trafalgar Square still manages to well used for events - when I was there was an event related to F1 at Silverstone the following weekend and it was full of cars and thousands of people lining up to look at them - and it was loud and fun.

Other members will be able to come up with much better examples of successful inviting, inclusive civic spaces in other cities. I think that adding some benches to NP Square isn't the game-changer you think it is though. The starting place is determining who/what Toronto wants to be in 2025 and how to manifest that, rather than maintaining a 1965 car parking lot wanna be.